Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Online Course Providers Put Their Money Where Their MOOC Is - Eleanor Lamb, MeriTalk

EdSurge’s reports that no major venture funding rounds were awarded to MOOC providers in 2016, as they were in previous years. This year’s lack of funding meant that providers had to make more money through their courses. As a result, certain features, such as certificates, graded assignments, and content, were no longer offered for free. “That means for many providers, monetization became a priority,” Shah said. “All the major providers already have or plan to launch courses that are paid only. And it seems to be working. The “Big Three” MOOC providers—Coursera, Udacity, edX—combined have potentially made around $100 million in 2016.” The variety of courses also increased in 2016. This past year, 2,600 new courses were announced among cloud providers; 1,800 new courses were released in 2015. As of now, 6,850 courses are offered across 700 universities. https://www.meritalk.com/articles/online-course-providers-put-their-money-where-their-mooc-is/